1981 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1981 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 99th season in the history of the franchise, and the 11th season for the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.
Offseason
- November 25, 1980: Rick Schu was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.
- December 8, 1980: George Bell was drafted from the Phillies by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1980 rule 5 draft.
- December 22, 1980: Del Unser was signed as a free agent by the Phillies.
- March 1, 1981: Randy Lerch was traded by the Phillies to the Milwaukee Brewers for Dick Davis.
- March 25, 1981: Bob Walk was traded by the Phillies to the Atlanta Braves for Gary Matthews.
Regular season
- April 29, 1981: Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton struck out Tim Wallach of the [1981 1981 Montreal Expos season|Montreal Expos season|Montreal Expos] for the 3000th strikeout of his career.
- August 10, 1981: First baseman Pete Rose records his 3,631st hit of his career, passing Stan Musial to become the all-time hit leader in the National League.
Notable transactions
- June 8, 1981: Vince Coleman was drafted by the Phillies in the 20th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
- July 12, 1981: Mike LaValliere was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent.
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Bob Boone | 76 | 227 | 48 | .211 | 4 | 24 |
| 1B | Pete Rose | 107 | 431 | 140 | .325 | 0 | 33 |
| 2B | Manny Trillo | 94 | 349 | 100 | .287 | 6 | 36 |
| SS | Larry Bowa | 103 | 360 | 102 | .283 | 0 | 31 |
| 3B | Mike Schmidt | 102 | 354 | 112 | .316 | 31 | 91 |
| LF | Gary Matthews | 101 | 359 | 108 | .301 | 9 | 67 |
| CF | Garry Maddox | 94 | 323 | 85 | .263 | 5 | 40 |
| RF | Bake McBride | 58 | 221 | 60 | .271 | 2 | 21 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Keith Moreland | 61 | 196 | 50 | .255 | 6 | 37 |
| Lonnie Smith | 62 | 176 | 57 | .324 | 2 | 11 |
| Greg Gross | 83 | 102 | 23 | .225 | 0 | 7 |
| 45 | 96 | 32 | .333 | 2 | 19 | |
| Luis Aguayo | 45 | 84 | 18 | .214 | 1 | 7 |
| 62 | 59 | 9 | .153 | 0 | 6 | |
| Ramón Avilés | 38 | 28 | 6 | .214 | 0 | 3 |
| 20 | 26 | 10 | .385 | 1 | 4 | |
| Len Matuszek | 13 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 1 |
| Ozzie Virgil Jr. | 6 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryne Sandberg | 13 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Dernier | 10 | 4 | 3 | .750 | 0 | 0 |
| Don McCormack | 3 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| 24 | 190.0 | 13 | 4 | 2.42 | 179 | |
| Dick Ruthven | 23 | 146.2 | 12 | 7 | 5.15 | 80 |
| Larry Christenson | 20 | 106.2 | 4 | 7 | 3.54 | 70 |
| Nino Espinosa | 14 | 73.2 | 2 | 5 | 6.11 | 22 |
| Marty Bystrom | 9 | 53.2 | 4 | 3 | 3.35 | 24 |
| Mark Davis | 9 | 43.0 | 1 | 4 | 7.74 | 29 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Dickie Noles | 13 | 58.1 | 2 | 2 | 4.17 | 34 |
| 5 | 28.0 | 3 | 0 | 4.18 | 15 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Tug McGraw | 34 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 2.66 | 26 |
| Sparky Lyle | 48 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 4.44 | 29 |
| Ron Reed | 39 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3.08 | 40 |
| Mike Proly | 35 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3.86 | 19 |
| 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.38 | 8 | |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.71 | 5 |